Review: The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld

I chose this book because of the beautiful cover, and because I was trying to find a winter-themed crime/mystery novel - apart from the early books of Kathy Reichs and Louise Penny, they seem to be a bit thin on the ground! I had expected The Child Finder to be a standard private detective/missing child story, but it is so much more than that. It's about the strength of the human spirit and determination to survive no matter how bleak the circumstances, and the tricks the mind will play to protect itself. There are also references to folk tales, such as The Snow Maiden. 

Naomi Cottle specialises in finding missing children; her own harrowing childhood means she can sometimes be more adapt than the police at finding them, even the cases that everyone else has given up on. Madison Culver disappeared three years ago on a trip to the remote, mountainous forests of Oregon, shortly before a blizzard. The authorities assume she died of exposure and have long since stopped looking for her remains, but Naomi knows that Madison could have survived - if someone else has found her.

I was completely gripped by this story and by 30% I got to the point where I couldn't put it down. Along with Naomi's search for Madison, we learn about how she has (mostly) overcome the demons of her own childhood, the mistake that haunts her, and her struggle to lower her defences enough to allow those she loves to get close. There are no real surprises in the plot, no big 'twist'; the strength is in the author's creation of flawed but fascinating characters the reader really cares about. I even found myself feeling sorry for the villain!

Child abduction and the effects of abuse make up the main plot of this detective story, but it is dealt with using a very light touch. This is not a gritty read but, as the author works in the field that she writes about, you know every word is completely authentic and from the heart.  Thoroughly recommended, particularly if you've enjoyed books such as Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell, and like reading stories that are just that little bit different.

Thank you to Rene Denfeld, W&N (Orion), and Netgalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Did You See Melody by Sophie Hannah

When I got my hands on this book I'm afraid it leapfrogged my 30-book-high to-be-read pile and I started on it immediately. I devoured it within 2 days! 2 days in which I was supposed to be doing other stuff, but I couldn't put it down.

The first half of the book is told from the point of view of Cara Burrows, an English woman running away from the (fairly minor) problem in her life. I can't tell you more about that, other than Cara wouldn't have a problem if she just learned to communicate with her family (husband and two children). When she asks for their opinion, and gets an answer she doesn't want, rather than plead her case she takes a chunk of money out of the family savings and heads off to a luxury spa in Arizona in retaliation. Although she does not tell her family where she is going, she does give them the date she plans to return - and then constantly checks their social media to see if they're missing her.

Cara arrives at The Swallowtail resort in Arizona full of self-righteous indignation, and completely disorientated from her flight. So when she picks up her key and goes into her room, it takes a moment for it to dawn on her that the room is already occupied by a father and his teenage daughter. Instead of quickly leaving Cara hides in the bathroom, making the situation worse, hearing them wake up and begin talking to each other - and discussing the person hiding in their bathroom ...

Later, when everything has been sorted out, it dawns on Cara that the man's 'daughter' may have been Melody Chapa, the most famous 'missing' child in America - her parents are currently in prison, suspected of her murder. But did Cara really see Melody, or imagine the whole thing?

I found Cara incredibly irritating but vastly entertaining - she comes up with some great one-liners towards the end of the book. I loved her friend Tarin, the 'Badass Mom', a florist who fancies herself as a sleuth. Tarin's relationship with her stroppy daughter is also entertaining, in an Eddy/Saffy (Absolutely Fabulous) kind of way. It's Tarin who perseveres with the 'is she/isn't she Melody' investigation (when Cara wishes Tarin would let the whole matter drop) and gets the police to take the case more seriously.

There is a lot of backstory, which I wasn't so keen on, telling the history of Melody's disappearance, the police investigation and the trials of the people suspected of murdering her. Some of this backstory is told in articles Cara reads online, some is told through transcripts of a TV show. The transcripts I found harder to concentrate on (they'd work better in a TV/film adaptation). I'm afraid I ended up skipping some because I wanted to get back to the story happening in the present. I wouldn't recommend doing this though, because I missed a fairly vital clue!

Overall, I really did enjoy this book. Sophie Hannah is a brilliant writer and there were lots of genuine twists I didn't see coming. Several times I thought I'd worked everything out, only to be thrown by another twist - particularly at the end. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes well-written mysteries, lots of twists, psychological suspense that's a little bit different, and stories with eccentric characters.

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of this book, which isn't out until 24th August 2017.

Thank you to Sophie Hannah, Hodder & Stoughton, and Netgalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.